The Greatest Era of All Time (So Far)

Bench Racing

by Ryan King

12/25/16

2016 is almost gone and 2017 is, of course, almost here.

This time of the year I like to reflect on what has happened over the past year and plan for the next. However, that would make for an incredibly boring post, so, instead, I've decided to look back over the Muscle Cars that debuted in the 2016 model year, and to those that have debuted for 2017.

2016

There were three particularly bright spots for me in 2016, the introduction of the new Camaro SS, the Shelby GT-350, and the Dodge Viper ACR.

The Muscle Car continues to reach new heights and I couldn't be happier.

If you have been living under a rock, here were the stats for the SS, the GT-350, the GT-350R, and the ACR (as tested by Motor Trend):

2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS

Engine: 6.2L/376 cid V8

Horsepower: 455 @ 6000

Torque: 455 @ 4400

0-60: 4.1 seconds

Quarter Mile: 12.4 @ 115

Lateral Acceleration: 1.01g

60-0: 102 ft

2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT-350

Engine: 5.2L/315 cid V8

Horsepower: 526 @ 7500

Torque: 429 @ 4750

0-60: 4.1 seconds

Quarter Mile: 12.4 @ 117

Lateral Acceleration: 1.00g

60-0: 102 ft

2016 Ford Mustang Shelby GT-350R

Engine: 5.2L/315 cid V8

Horsepower: 526 @ 7500

Torque: 429 @ 4750

0-60: 3.9 seconds

Quarter Mile: 12.1 @ 119

Lateral Acceleration: 1.09g

60-0: 96 ft

2016 Dodge Viper ACR

Engine: 8.4L/512 cid V10

Horsepower: 645 @ 6200

Torque: 600 @ 5000

0-60: 3.5 seconds

Quarter Mile: 11.5 @ 127

Lateral Acceleration: 1.14g

60-0: 87 ft

The brightest point was the GT-350R. As amazing as their performance numbers are, it was the driving that won the GT-350R the highest praise, which is considered to be one of the very best driving performance cars ever built.

2017

The 2017 model year also has some awesome cars debuting as well: the Corvette Grand Sport, the Camaro SS 1LE and the Camaro ZL-1, all of which are seriously astounding performers.

Here are their numbers (again, as tested by Motor Trend):

2017 Chevrolet Corvette Grand Sport

Engine: 6.2L/376 cid V8

Horsepower: 460 @ 6000

Torque: 465 @ 4600

0-60: 3.9 seconds

Quarter Mile: 12.2 @ 116

Lateral Acceleration: 1.18g

60-0: 90 ft

2017 Chevrolet Camaro SS 1LE

Engine: 6.2L/376 cid V8

Horsepower: 455 @ 6000

Torque: 455 @ 4400

0-60: 4.0 seconds

Quarter Mile: 12.4

Lateral Acceleration: 1.09g

60-0: 94 ft

2017 Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1

Engine: 6.2L/376 cid V8

Horsepower: 650 @ 6400

Torque: 650 @ 3600

0-60: 3.5 seconds

Quarter Mile: 11.5 @ 125

Lateral Acceleration: 1.07g

60-0: 96 ft

Conclusion

All of these cars – along with the other performance offerings by the big three over the past few years – are showing that today, we live in the greatest era of Muscle Cars.

Nothing produced from the '60s & '70s, not a Hemi, not a Cobra, not a Corvette, could ever hope to come close.